Q and A: Red-light cameras

QUESTION: How do I know whether an intersection has red-light cameras?

ANSWER: California law says signs must be posted at each camera-equipped intersection and be “visible to traffic approaching from all directions,” or at all the main entrances to town.

QUESTION: Why do cities use the cameras?

ANSWER: They are safer than having police officers chase people who run red lights, and less labor-intensive and less costly than having officers “tag-team” an intersection with one positioned before the light and one after it. There is 24-hour enforcement without having 24-hour staffing, which deters people from running red lights. Accidents also tend to decrease at intersections near those with cameras.

QUESTION: If they work so well, why doesn’t every city have them?

ANSWER: Some cities don’t have enough red-light violators to generate the tickets needed to justify the cost. They also may not have an intersection with a high number of accidents.

QUESTION: Who gets the money from the fines?

ANSWER: The ticket money is divided among the city, the county and the courts. Cities say the cameras are intended to improve safety, not generate revenue. The cities receive revenue but say that most of it is spent on the red-light contractor, electricity, wireless Internet access to transmit the photos and videos, staff time to oversee the contracts and officer time to approve tickets.

QUESTION: How do the camera systems work?

ANSWER: The technology includes sensors, digital video and pictures.

As you drive toward an intersection, underground sensors check your speed. As you approach the intersection, the cameras receive a signal from the light that it is about to turn red. The cameras are triggered if you are going too fast to stop quickly, generally faster than 15 mph. If you enter the intersection when the light is yellow, and it turns red as you pass through, you don’t get ticketed.

Photographs and video are generated by the systems. The photos display the face of the driver, the license plate, the car entering the intersection as the light is red and a photo of the car going through the intersection. Technicians review the data and send it to the local police so an officer can review each one and determine whether to issue a ticket.

QUESTION: Does the red-light-camera company control the timing of the lights?

ANSWER: No. Each city is responsible for engineering its traffic lights, including yellow- light times.

QUESTION: If I get a ticket, what should I do?

ANSWER: If you agree you ran the red light, you can pay the fine online or by mail. You will receive points on your driving record, which usually means higher insurance rates. In some cases, you can attend traffic school to reduce your insurance costs. If you were not driving, you can fill out an affidavit saying so. You can also contest the ticket in court. Ticketassassin.com and highwayrobbery.net offer advice on challenging tickets.

-- Tanya Mannes

Bill Davison won’t forget the time he got snagged in the red-light-camera net. In August, he was pushing a yellow light at Escondido Boulevard and Second Avenue in Escondido when a camera snapped his picture.

He didn’t know it.

Davison, 52, groaned when the ticket — and the $446 fine — arrived in the mail.

“Since I got this ticket I have been more aware of the red lights,” said Davison, a mechanical engineer from Escondido. He believes the fine is too high but said, “I think it does make the streets and the intersection safer.”

Red-light cameras, seen as a cost-effective way to stop drivers from trying to beat red lights, are used at some of the most dangerous intersections at nine cities in the county, and the numbers could grow.

Lemon Grove, National City and Chula Vista are considering installing the cameras, and San Diego expanded its program in January to three more intersections for a total of 15. The eight other San Diego County cities with the cameras are Del Mar, El Cajon, Encinitas, Escondido, Oceanside, Poway, Solana Beach and Vista.

City officials say the red-light cameras increase safety and are less expensive than live patrols. Usually, a contractor shoulders the upfront expense of installation, then receives payments for operating the cameras under an annual contract. Critics say cities shouldn’t outsource traffic enforcement, and contend that cities use the cameras to make money. City officials say the systems generally break even.

“If I could pull a deputy off an intersection to do more proactive policing, it would make our community so much safer,” Mitchell said.

Redflex, the company that handles red-light enforcement for all local cities except San Diego, is assessing up to five intersections in Lemon Grove, Mitchell said.

Studies by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety have shown that the cameras reduce violations not only where they are installed, but nearby.

“The fact that you have red-light enforcement in our city, you get drivers who have the perception it’s everywhere,” said Zoubir Ouadah, Poway’s senior traffic engineer. “They drive very carefully going through our intersections.”

The Poway City Council decided to pursue red-light cameras in part because of a fatal accident in 2002 at Scripps Poway Parkway and Community Road, where a driver ran a red light and broadsided another car. A woman was killed and her 5-year-old son was injured.

Since cameras were installed, that intersection has had 30 percent fewer accidents related to red-light running.

Vista, which has installed cameras at five intersections since 2004, saw a dramatic improvement at Vista Village Drive and North Santa Fe Avenue. The number of right-angle collisions there dropped from 16 in 2003 to one last year.

But the systems have their critics. Some people object to the processing of evidence — photos and video — by a contractor.

Arthur F. Tait III, an attorney in Santa Ana who fights red-light tickets, said there is little opportunity for cross-examination.

“You’ve got all these people behind the scenes really responsible for producing this criminal evidence, but most people are not brought into court,” Tait said.

Officials counter that a sworn officer in the jurisdiction must sign off on each ticket. They also cite the quality of the evidence, which consists of photos and digital video.

Davison, from Escondido, is challenging his ticket based on a photo that indicates the traffic lights were off when he crossed the intersection.

Tait also said the systems “exploit poor traffic engineering to generate revenue.” For example, he said, in some cases, the yellow-light time is too short for the average approach speed.

Cities say they use state guidelines to set traffic-signal times. They also say they receive only a portion of the ticket revenue; the state and county get the rest. Cities use the revenue to pay the contractor and for salaries of staff members who oversee the contract.

San Diego received $888,000 in revenue last year from its red-light cameras. It paid American Traffic Solutions, the contractor, $386,000 for the systems and spends $493,400 on internal overhead, said Alex Roth, a spokesman for Mayor Jerry Sanders. That amount covers salaries for one engineer and 3½ police officers, and one-fourth of the salary for a sergeant who provides oversight, Roth said.

San Diego was among the first local cities to install red-light cameras, but the program was abruptly ended in 2001 when it was found that the private company running it, Lockheed Martin IMS, was making money on the number of tickets issued and that the city was lax in overseeing the effort. The program resumed in 2003 with provisions for longer yellow lights and a contract that paid the contractor a flat fee, not a portion of each ticket.

A 2005 state law forbids cities from paying companies based on the number of violations.

Some cities say they are doing fine without the systems. Carlsbad Councilman Keith Blackburn said police officers are able to target intersections without the automated enforcement.

“They do serve their purpose,” Blackburn said.

“It’s better, in my opinion, to have a human being stop and talk to you about a violation than to have a ticket pumped out by a machine.”